It’s becoming clearer who’s still in the game for ESPN’s soon-to-expire MLB rights, and Apple is near the top of that list.
According to SBJ’s Austin Karp, Apple TV is a leading contender for a portion of the package ESPN is walking away from after this season. That package includes Sunday Night Baseball, early-round playoff games, and the Home Run Derby. NBC is also in the mix, reportedly focused on landing Sunday nights to bolster its year-round Sunday primetime sports lineup, which already includes NFL and soon NBA.
But Apple’s ambitions appear broader. SBJ reports that Apple is interested in a larger slate of games than NBC. The strategy appears to be a split: use NBC to maintain broad reach via traditional broadcast and leverage Apple to drive up rights value with a streamer willing to pay a premium.
No deals are signed yet, but there’s precedent. Apple already has a Friday Night Baseball deal with MLB, an exclusive, no-blackout streaming arrangement that launched in 2022 and is reportedly a 7-year, 85 million dollar per year deal. Adding Sunday nights to that mix would expand Apple’s live sports portfolio, which so far only includes MLB and MLS. The company has pursued bigger fish like NFL Sunday Ticket and the Pac-12, but walked away late in the game each time.
The Sunday night package would cost more than Fridays. ESPN had been paying about 550 million dollars annually for the full rights bundle. MLB is likely hoping that splitting the package can make up that number, if not exceed it. Whether it works depends on how many buyers step up and how creatively the league can slice the deal.
It’s a high-stakes move for MLB. Splitting rights could optimize revenue and reach, but only if the right partners sign on.
